Faith can heal young people of addiction, study says

The wording about research results in the WSJ article very much mirrored my own
addiction recovery. The researchers put into words in this article the
feelings and experiences I had.

Brahmabullsandy, ut

March 31, 2014 12:24 p.m.

mattrick78

I think the more telling part is that you can be healed by
using action and ignoring faith, and you cannot be healed by using faith alone
and not using action.

Action alone can heal

Faith alone
can not heal.

Which one is more important, and which is more
powerful?

The ScientistProvo, UT

March 29, 2014 4:24 p.m.

jeanie wrote:

"If religion fails it is because it is not fully
understood, not because it is inherently flawed."

I have
witnessed the opposite. More importantly, your claim is impossible to support.

jeanie orem, UT

March 29, 2014 12:18 p.m.

I also agree that a supernatural power does not magically fill an addict's
life when they turn to religion, rather it is a natural power they feel as they
discover they are a loved child of a real and living god, or that there is
something bigger than them they can rely on. If religion fails it is because it
is not fully understood, not because it is inherently flawed. Often people get
caught up in condemning themselves and others using their own version of
God's measuring stick and do not fully understand the nature of God's
grace, patience and love.

JMLehi, UT

March 29, 2014 11:31 a.m.

I recently read some studies on LDS which show that active Church going does
help with many societal ills: i.e. church attendance reduces addictions and
suicide, etc. and increases happiness, giving, etc. I know that, for me,
faith in Christ cured me of my addictions. God didn't force me to change
though, He never will. It takes that faith that motivates to works. I was
more of an agnostic than anything and studied different philosophies, then
attended several different Churches, had long discussions with Pastors etc. It
wasn't until I read the Book of Mormon and was Spiritually born of God (as
Alma might say), that my life was completely changed for the better. And then I
was able to overcome addictions, just as many people do when truly
"converted."

The ScientistProvo, UT

March 29, 2014 11:15 a.m.

Every week in Church meetings I hear members express "testimonies" to
the effect that they "couldn't live without the Church", and other
extremely dependent (addicted) expressions.

There is no doubt
religion is a substitute addiction, rather than a healing influence, for a great
many members.

slcdenizent-ville, UT

March 29, 2014 9:41 a.m.

Addiction is the often an outcome of seeking transcendence and escapism in
destructive, short-term relief seeking behaviors. It's also occasionally a
result of the breakdown of the common person's sense of community and
belongingness. When addicts turn to religion or AA, there's no supernatural
power that magically fills their lives, it's the meaning and purpose they
had been seeking all along, provided by the ability to share experiences and
build relationships with new people. It is misleading and incomplete to link the
proclivity of joining cults and overcoming addiction without addressing the
subject's initial intention prior to becoming addicted. If anything, the
failure of religions to address adherents' underlying psychological issues
should be a recurring news theme instead of celebrating a downtrodden
person's willingness to verbalize their new faith approach. Utah has an
exceptionally high per capita depression diagnosis, despite or perhaps because
of, high religiosity. That's something that deserves plenty of attention.

Karen R.Houston, TX

March 29, 2014 7:22 a.m.

@ mattrick 78

I think it's accurate to say that, for SOME
people, faith and religion, are intertwined. More and more people I meet these
days express a belief in a god, but eschew religion altogether.

I
also think it's accurate to say that, for some, turning to a religion to
gain sobriety is simply trading one drug for another. The factors underlying
the addictive behavior do not get addressed. They just manifest themselves in a
different way. When this is the actual result, it cannot be called healing.

CatsSomewhere in Time, UT

March 29, 2014 7:11 a.m.

Hutterite: There is no faith without religion and no religion without faith.

george of the junglegoshen, UT

March 28, 2014 9:26 p.m.

Desire, Belief and Expectations. With out any one of these you can't do it.

mattrick78Cedar City, UT

March 28, 2014 7:28 p.m.

@Hutterite

For most people, faith and religion are intertwined.

mattrick78Cedar City, UT

March 28, 2014 7:21 p.m.

@GZE

Of course. You can't just have to faith that you will be
cured, you have to engage in some sort of action.

cocosweetSandy, UT

March 28, 2014 1:20 p.m.

This was known over 75 years ago (AA's 75th anniversary is this year).
Faith is vital in this program, though it isn't necessarily faith in a God.
Of all the types of treatment for addiction the one with the highest success
rate is the one that is free.

RedWingsCLEARFIELD, UT

March 28, 2014 12:43 p.m.

Jamescmeyer - Well Said!!

In the 12-step programs, as you come to
believe that a Higher Power can restore you to sanity, and begin to trust that
Power, recovery begins.

My brothers and sisters in recovery vary in
detail as to their Higher Power - mine is Jesus Christ my Redeemer and I find
nothing incompatible between the 12 steps and my LDS Faith. Others have
different ideas, but the point is finding a "faith that works"

And I can tell you from years of experience, the 12 steps are not only a
program of action, they are a progrma of faith!!

JamescmeyerMidwest City, USA, OK

March 28, 2014 11:46 a.m.

@AL The Younger

Saying that "religion alone isn't effective
treatment for addiction" is pointless; of course it's not, and
that's not what the article even says. It's like reading an article
taht says reducing your intake of fats will help decrease your level of body
fat, and then scoffing that the article is misleading because there's more
to it than that.

@Hutterite

I don't understand your
comment. True and genuine religion -is- faith, and those principles in which
one has faith -is religion-.

My religion is that Jesus Christ
fulfilled the Atonement so that if we follow His pattern and instructions set
before us, we will reach a particular state of being-one that, among other
things, is free of the chains of addiction and compulsion. There's no
sense in seperating council from God from sheer undirected faith and declaring
the former to be without value.

HutteriteAmerican Fork, UT

March 28, 2014 11:16 a.m.

Faith maybe. Religion? No.

GZESALT LAKE CITY, UT

March 28, 2014 10:51 a.m.

This is incomplete and very misleading. Faith can be very helpful in overcoming
addictions. In almost all cases, however, faith alone is not enough.

AL The Younger Gilbert, AZ

March 28, 2014 10:28 a.m.

God can cure addiction. Its a beautiful thing to put your faith in something
other than yourself and trust in God. Its a life changing experience.